Report: Religion, poor working conditions limit women’s involvement in Nigeria’s labour force

Religion, marriage and poor working conditions have been identified as factors limiting the involvement of women in Nigeria’s labour force, according to a report by Jobberman.

The report, titled, “Unmasking the Barriers to Women’s Participation in Nigeria’s Labour Market,” noted that despite the guhe gap in labour force participation, women represent 50.5 per cent of Nigeria’s active population.

According to the report, women are underrepresented in the labour force, and the gap has continued to widen across the spectrum of the labour market due to certain barriers that affect women.

The report gave a breakdown of women’s participation in the labour force, based on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) labour force data for Q4 2020 data, which shows that 18 million women are in the informal sector and less than one million women are employed in the formal sector.

“According to NBS Q4 2020 data, women make up the larger amount of Nigeria’s economically active population, with 61.3 million (50.5 per cent). However, they are underrepresented in the labour force with a gap of 13.42 per cent when compared to men,” the report reads.

“Beyond labour force participation, the gender gap continues to widen across the spectrum of the labour market. While only 20 million of the total employed population (46 million) are women, less than a million women are in formal employment, while 95 per cent are engaged within the informal sector. Moreso, the female unemployment rate in Nigeria is 35.2 per cent.”

The report highlighted personal barriers, family or organisational barriers, policy and cultural barriers as limitations to women’s participation in Nigeria’s labour market, using Lagos, Kano and Kaduna states as case studies.

“These are barriers that largely stem from cognitive, emotional and physical capabilities or personal circumstances which affect women’s psyche in ways that inform their perception about life, identity, relationships and consequently their labour market choices. Some of these include; individual aspirations, values and preferences and ‘being a woman’,” it added.

“Institutional or family barriers are factors that influence women’s labour market engagements and participation either based on their relationships or organisational frameworks/policies.

“They include the decisions that women ‘have’ to take due to conflicting priorities and involvements outside work or the dispositions of either family members or institutions they are interested in working with.

“Some of these, include marriage, limited aspirations, sexual and reproductive health, domestic responsibility, working structure/conditions, restricted mobility and sexual-based violence/harassment.

“Cultural and policy barriers are factors that impact women’s labour market outcomes either through strongly held ideologies or written/unwritten societal constructs that systematically exclude women from the labour market. They include mainstream society constructs that privileges men over women in the world of work. They Include patriarchy, religion, education, poverty, etc.”

The report recommended improvement in women’s involvement through introduction of “policies and culture that supports women’s rights and participation in the labour market; friendly social systems and workplaces that allow women transition and reach their full potential”.